COSTA MESA : O.C. Fair Radio, TV Ads Win 2 Awards

Capping a year in which a record 685,240 people attended the Orange County Fair, the advertising campaign that brought at least some of them to the fairgrounds has won two awards.

Two ads for the fair--one for television and the other for radio--were honored by the International Assn. of Business Communicators, a guild of advertising agencies and public relations firms.

The television ad, which showed people ranging from the elderly to young children enjoying different aspects of the fair, received an award of merit.

A second award of merit was given for a radio spot in which children sang a “festive jingle about different family activities at the fair,” said fair spokeswoman Jill Lloyd, whose Costa Mesa firm Jill Lloyd & Associates produced both spots. One line from the song promised that the fair offered “hours and hours of beautiful flowers.”

The ads were judged with others from California, Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah and Nevada.

“I think the (ads) had a lot to do with exciting people about coming out to the fair,” Lloyd said.